Dialysis is widely used within medical therapy in the treatment of various diseases and disorders. One example is dialysis in the treatment of patients suffering from different stages of acute and chronic renal diseases. These patients are generally treated either by haemodialysis (HD) or peritoneal dialysis (PD). During HD the metabolic waste products are cleared by means of an artificial membrane outside the body, whereas during PD the waste products are cleared by means of a biological membrane, such as the peritoneum or peritoneal membrane. There are both manual and automated modes of PD and to find the right treatment mode for each patient, medical, social and economical aspects have to be considered.
Continuous Ambulatory Peritoneal Dialysis (CAPD) is a frequently used form of PD. It is a manual method where each exchange is taken care of by the patient himself. To increase the efficiency of CAPD and to help the patient with the exchanges, a machine (e.g. a PD cycler) can be used. A PD cycler is a machine that automatically administers all exchanges of PD solutions according to a predetermined schedule. There are different PD applications when using a machine, all summarised with the term APD, Automated Peritoneal Dialysis.
In the different modes of PD, especially in an APD assembly, a connector is often used to detach a multi-divider tubing system of the PD medical assembly, including the empty PD bags from the PD portion, in order to transfer the empty medical supply bags to the drain portion for discharge of spent PD solution during the following treatment. This is to assist the patient in the situation where there is no sink or the like available for discharge of spent PD solution during the treatment.
Presently known is an APD system including a standard luer lock connection having a female connecting part and a male connecting part for connecting the liquid introducing portion to the PD portion. The connection is mounted before sterilisation of the whole assembly. After sterilisation and completion of the dialysis procedure the connection is unscrewed and the liquid introducing portion is connected to the drain portion of the next PD medical assembly.
One major disadvantage with said connection is that the connector tends to get loose during sterilisation as well as during storage and air maybe sucked into or leak into the tubing system of the assembly. Air in the system may cause pain to the patient and may even be fatal. Moreover, a loose-fitting connector provides a potential for bacterial contamination of the line set, which in turn may result in serious inflammation of the peritoneum of the patient.
A further disadvantage with the above construction is, due to the construction of the distinct elements forming the connector ends, that each connector end is required to be manufactured separately, which is time-consuming and increases costs.